Cease Evictions Ireland

The Anti Eviction Taskforce (AET) have written to all Government Ministers across all political parties on behalf of all distressed mortgage holders in Ireland today, delivering a mandate to bring a motion before the Dáil to ban eviction in Ireland. This letter will arrive on the desks of all Ministers on February 4th 2013.

To explain the logic behind this mandate: The Government and Financial institutions continue to ignore the issue of distressed mortgages, which is resulting in much family distress, family break-up and, in some cases, suicide. While, as yet, eviction is not an everyday occurrence, it is only a matter of time before eviction becomes common place. This threat, along with the inaction by both the Government and Financial Institutions to devise credible resolution is disabling distressed mortgage holders and resulting in impasse.

To consider a typical distressed mortgaged home just now, the main wage earner is most likely unemployed (through no fault of their own). The value of the family home has diminished by over 50% but the cost of mortgage repayments are actually increasing. This is with no income now to cover this cost. Meanwhile, any earnings which are coming in to the family home are being diminished as a result of an increase in indirect taxation - the European Social Charge and Property Tax and numerous others.

While we at AET would not advocate that mortgages not be paid, it is very evident that in the current economic climate maintaining such payments is impossible. This is weighted against actual value, and in denial of a raft of issues; financial institutions behaved recklessly with the investment funds of citizens - hedging investment for private gain on the international financial markets with products which were essentially flawed (and in some cases no more than a 'cloud') - this all lead to the lack of funds available in the banks to furnish their customers' needs; this in turn led to the same banks withdrawing overdrafts for businesses; this led in turn to those businesses being unable to pay either their suppliers or their staff, this leading in turn to suppliers going out of business and staff becoming unemployed.

This is not news: this is the harsh reality of how banks treated their customers, government failed to protect the state, and the state in turn failed it's citizens. The situation is dire and pretty much impossible for great numbers of citizens who did no more to contribute to this situation than to enter into the market of owning their own home where they would raise their children in their own country and fulfil their own destinies. Much has been said. Many payments have been made to the 'highwaymen' who shield themselves behind the wrench they have exercised against our government who in turn has failed its people.

It is time for platitudes and payments to be properly addressed. At the very least, the mortgaged homeowner should now have a viable writedown appropriate to the financial wreckage which has been leveraged against their expectation. How this will be assessed will be a mathematical exercise based on the realities of the newly inherited market disaster which is currently to the benefit of no-one but the institutions and their bond holders. This is a Pandora's Box just waiting to be opened.

We have not mentioned in any detail here the fact that many of these mortgages are with institutions which were merely agents for financial products, sub-prime lenders, or institutions lacking in accountability which are currently moving out of Ireland and in some cases ceasing to exist (or altering their trading identities). Knowledge is Power, as Foucault presents. The people will seek answers - justice, truth, accountability and fair reasoning; the people will not be fooled forever. Those who do not emigrate, those who do not wish to see their deals rescinded and their futures blighted may well rise to ask questions, or seek to have questions answered in their names.

Many of these people are facing the execution of orders against their homes, their lives, their futures.
A repossessed home just now is put on the market and sold for a fraction of its value while the original mortgage holder is left homeless and dependent on social welfare. There is no logic here: and no Justice. By removing the option of eviction, financial institutions will have no choice but to engage fairly with the distressed mortgage holder in a manner that would be satisfactory to all parties.

Turning a blind eye to this issue, which has been the order of the day to date, is futile. The Government are taking money from citizens via: indirect taxes, wage cuts, social charges, property tax and others and in truth there has been little resistance to this, but we have now reached crisis point. Across all sectors from civil servants, Gardai, private sector workers, public sector workers - an inability to meet mortgage repayments is now the norm rather than the exception.

We want all ministers to know that as a representative body for distressed mortgage holders the AET expect that this mandate be regarded as a serious representation of the will and the wishes of the mortgaged homeowner and that it will be acted upon as Step One in the process of delivering equitable and achievable resolution to the issue of Distressed Mortgages in Ireland.

There are so many people in this country who could easily find themselves in a situation where they need help from the Anti Eviction Taskforce. Just imagine if you were to lose your job or worse, your health (or the health of a family member). If the unthinkable were to happen, would your family home be safe or would you be in danger of losing that too? We will be here to support you and your family. We would encourage everyone to please contact their local constituency offices to show their support for us, and for each other.

Signed: Anti Eviction Taskforce
For and on behalf of Distressed Mortgage Holders.

We are asking for support from people by sending the following letter all representatives

Dear Sir / Madam

I am writing to you on behalf of the currently distressed mortgage holders in Ireland:

Statistics March 2012

77,630, or 10.2 % of Mortgage holders, were in arrears of more than 90 days. This compares with 70,945 accounts (9.2 % of total) that were in arrears of more than 90 days at end-December 2011.

The number of accounts that were in arrears of more than 180 days was 59,437 at end-March 2012, equivalent to 7.8 per cent of the total. At end-December 2011, the number of accounts in arrears of more than 180 days was 53,120, or 6.9 per cent of the total.

Therefore, 116,288 accounts were either in arrears of over 90 days or had been restructured

and were performing as at the end of March.

In arrears 90-180 day: 87,293, over 180 days 1,209,459. Total = 1,296,752

Residential properties in possession – at end of quarter.

As you can see from the above statistics, distressed mortgage holders make up a large proportion of the Irish Electorate and these numbers are growing monthly. The issue of distressed mortgages in Ireland has been allowed to fester and grow since the downturn with both the Financial Sector and the Government of the day determinedly avoiding to take responsibility for the situation or to focus on developing equitable resolution to the issue (as is their duty).

Article 45 IV: That in what pertains to the control of credit the constant and predominant aim shall be the welfare of the people as a whole.

We have seen household debt increase from 68.9% of personal disposable income in 2000 to over 150% in 2007, and this % continues to rise as debt remains stagnant while income reduces or in many cases disappears

This negligence by the Government (and by default, the financial sector) must now stop. It is critical that the issue of distressed mortgages be given top priority by this Government:

It now must be the goal of this Government to devise and drive resolution, to save family units, to save family homes and to save the lives of family member.

Step one in this process has to be; A Complete Cessation of Eviction in Ireland.

The automatic benefits of this cessation will be:

To reduce stress levels within family homes struggling with distressed mortgages.
A change in the playing field to focus both the Government and Financial Institutions on devising equitable and workable resolution to this issue thus eventually eliminating the issue long term.
A return to the ethical basis on which the Irish Constitution is founded; for the good of Irish Citizens.

In this letter we, the distressed mortgage holders of Ireland, deliver to you a clear mandate to present the Government with a motion to introduce a complete ban on eviction from the family home in Ireland with immediate effect.

This letter is being distributed to the attached list of Ministers / TD’s.

Please be advised that we do not wish to receive any automated replies, replies from your secretaries or any replies advising that you will look into this matter. This mandate requires your personal and IMMEDIATE ACTION.

There is no justification for any family to be put under severe duress or threat of eviction because of the economic downturn.

As our elected representative in this democratic country of Ireland, you are duty-bound to deliver on this mandate on behalf of the citizens of Ireland by immediately bringing forward a motion in the Dáil for a complete cessation of eviction in Ireland to protect the family home.

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Comments (4 of 4)

I don't understand how these particular figures are derived: "In arrears 90-180 day: 87,293, over 180 days 1,209,459. Total = 1,296,752"

Also I would assume that the number of accounts in arrears over 180 days is already included in the total for the number of accounts in arrears 90+ days. Seems like there is something wrong in the assumptions. Perhaps the author can explain

People on the dole even,have to pay back the bankers,while those in the dail decided those on 100,000 + salaries do not have to take a cut,and taking a cut in ''optional'' for those ''working''(posturing more like) in the dail..

Nobody was consulted in this so called democracy about bailing out the banks,we should have nationalised the banks while we had our oppurtunity,but alas there is not real business acumen in the dail..

Bunch of gombeen self serving careerists with no professional political background,sure look at enda kenny himself,a former teacher in a primary school!!!

This is the sort of crowd we have ''working'' in the dail..

Bailing out the banks,not the people is what its all about.The difference is unlike the bankers,you don't have enda kennys phone number on speed dial..

"Nobody was consulted in this so called democracy about bailing out the banks": which I believe is a straightforward and extremely serious violation of Article 6.1 of Bunreacht na hEireann, the SUPREME LAW of the Republic of Ireland.

As can be seen at the www address just above, the message-text of the above-mentioned e-mail begins as follows:

"In connection with events of recent years, all three of the main branches of Republic of Ireland Governments (Executive, Legislative, and Judicial) have 'form' regarding the matter of very seriously violating Article 6.1 of our Constitution."

NOTE: For those who might not know, "form" is slang for "criminal record" in some places. Thanks to the impunity arrangements the criminals in question have in place for themselves, our government criminals are "unconvicted criminals" who can keep on committing crime for as long as they wish. At the present time, "the people" have no known LAWFUL means of stopping them, IN PRACTICE: thanks to our red-rotten-with-corruption justice system, and our red-rotten-with-corruption legal profession who run our justice system.

Also, a follow-up e-mail to Mr Ban Ki-moon, sent yesterday, contained the paragraph in the section just below:

=============

2) the threat posed by the ignorant/arrogant members of governments (executive, legislative, and judicial) who, collectively, continue to be able to frequently, and with the greatest of ease, get away with criminally exceeding their authority, neglecting their duty in extremely important ways, and so on, and to do so with 100% impunity!!: despite the now decades-old existence -- on paper -- of powerful constitutional and human rights law, which has been specifically designed to prevent such government "tin-god" and/or "bullyboy/girl" abuses: abuses that is of the most basic God-given rights which the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights strives to protect, and which "government tin-gods" have no right whatsoever to be depriving anybody of.

In an article covering recent protests last week in Spain where hundreds of thousands of people protested in 50 cities, it mentions that there have been over 400,000 evictions so far in Spain. That's an incredible number and I presume is broadly correct.

And as we now for the past few weeks the media have been very busy reporting that the govt is now urging the banks here to start evictions -or repossessions using their language. Indeed the govt statements on the matter have been surprisingly brazen and upfront about it.

If we take the Spanish figure and relate it to Ireland we can do so by simply taking the ratio of the two populations namely ours at 4.5m and Spain at 47.2m the that would mean for the Irish level to be the same as the Spanish one we would have: (4.5 * 400,000 ) / 47.2 = 38,135 or rounded to 38,000 evictions. And if they are at the same rate, then that is about a quarter or 9,500 a year. Given there are about 90,000 people here in mortgage arrears then if the same trends / numbers apply that would suggest one third will be kicked out.

I think that shows there is a lot of work ahead for the Anti-Eviction task force.

The Spanish figure was in this sentence: ...A week earlier, thousands marched in over 50 cities to protest harsh repossession laws that have led to 400,000 evictions.... from the article titled: "Strikes and demonstrations rock Spain" and linked below.

A casual search showed the figure was 300,000 in 2012 since 2008 and that works out at close to 100,000 per year therefore making the 400,000 figure for 2013 broadly correct.